


Qualified Domestic Relations Order

by Monsieur_Grenouille



Series: Tales of Brotherly Love [4]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Brotherly Love, Lawyer Ray Toro, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 06:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23846860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monsieur_Grenouille/pseuds/Monsieur_Grenouille
Summary: The boys visit the office of Ray Toro, a lawyer who may be able to get them to where they need. I apologize for the delay. I just have trouble prioritizing, and it’s hard for me to focus on things with more than 3 parts.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Gerard Way & Mikey Way
Series: Tales of Brotherly Love [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716712
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Qualified Domestic Relations Order

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know anything about law, so I’m just taking my best guess. Don’t rely on this to be actual law.

“Hey, Baby Brother?” Gerard climbed into the spare bed at the end of the day. Mikey wasn’t asleep yet, so he was doodling on his hand with a pen. Gerard mentally slapped himself for not packing their diaries or sketchbooks. “What’re you drawing?” he leaned over Mikey’s shoulder. “Is that... Machu Picchu?” He cocked his head to the side. 

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Yes, Gerard, when I get lonely, I draw Incan cities on my hand. How’d you know?” 

Gerard sat behind him and hugged his brother’s back to his chest. “You just never know. What is it, actually?” 

Mikey bit his lip. “A train,” he whispered, “I don’t think I meant it when I said I give up on railroads. They’re a part of me.” He relaxed against Gerard’s hug. Gerard kissed his temple and sighed. 

“I’m glad. Remember the electric train set from when you were six?” 

Mikey nodded. “That’s one of my first memories.” He closed the pen and tilted his head back onto Gerard’s shoulder. “Do you want to just sleep like this?” he mumbled. 

Gerard yawned and rested against the backboard. “Sounds good to me. Tomorrow, we’re going to find a lawyer. Frank knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a lawyer named Ray Toro. He works with family law. Custody and stuff. Maybe, if we play our cards right, you could legally become my child.” 

Mikey nodded as he began to drift off. “G’night.” 

************************************************

Monday morning, Gerard dropped off Mikey at school. He told the counselor and the office about what was going on and how Mikey couldn’t feel his legs. He signed some papers about it, then made sure the bus driver knew that Mikey couldn’t take the bus anymore. Next, he met Frank at the diner to discuss the situation. 

”How are we going to do this?” Gerard tapped his pen on the communal writing tablet. “We know there are three major things to do, some of which happen before or after my birthday.” He sipped at his coffee and made three bulletpoints. “You and I have to get married, Mikey has to be pulled out of school, and we have to win the lawsuit.” 

Frank nodded and added another bulletpoint. “But before we win the lawsuit — or even start to _think_ about it — we have to meet all CPS requirements. You should probably get a job, and I have to go full-time at Bailey’s Music. We talked about the music thing last night, but we didn’t go in depth.” 

“Well, it’s a job you already have. You just have to ask Bailey if you can go full time. If it takes too much of your time, then maybe cut off lessons?” 

Frank rubbed the back of his neck. “That’d be a hard email to send out,” he breathed, “I love those kids. They’re really coming along, too.” He stared at his hands for a second. “But... what has to be done, has to be done.” 

Gerard nodded somberly. “This is going to be a long, hard year.” 

“A long and hard life.” 

“Hopefully it’s long,” Gerard cracked a shy smile behind his curtain of hair. “Unless Mikey has polio, then the only people who can control our lifespan is us.” 

Frankie smiled back and added something to the list. “We need to get Mikey checked out by a doctor. What if he does have polio?”

Gerard folded his hands. “That’d be horrible. I think we got him vaccinated when he was little, though.” 

“Your parents vaccinated?” 

“Evidently! I’m almost an adult and Mikey’s in high school. I wonder how people are reacting to the wheelchair. Oh god– what if Brendon tips him over on purpose? Or if people dump him out of the chair? I hope he’s not getting many questions. He always likes blending into the background.” 

Frank reached forward to hold Gerard’s wrist. “I wouldn’t be worried. He knows how to be by himself.” 

Gerard sighed as he placed seven dollars on the table and stood up. Frank followed, making sure to tell Dorothy about the money on the table. “Keep the change,” he said, “It’s the least we can do.” 

The two walked hand in hand to the office of Ray Toro Esquire. Gerard was relieved to see that Ray was young, but then realized he might be less experienced. The lawyer was tall and had frizzy brown hair, and smiled as soon as he saw them. “You must be Frank Iero,” he said. 

Gerard chuckled and pointed to his boyfriend. “That’s Frank,” he replied, “I’m Gerard. Gerard Way.” 

Ray nodded and shook both their hands. “I’m Ray Toro, but you can just call me Ray. What seems to be the situation here?” He invited the couple to sit down in two chairs in front of his desk. 

Gerard spoke first, “We’re trying to find a way to get custody over my brother.” 

Ray cocked his head. “Elaborate?” 

“Our biological parents are more or less abusive, and we ran away just a few nights ago after Mikey (my brother) had gotten beaten again. It caused him to lose all feeling in his legs. I’m about to be a legal adult, so we were hoping to get him out of our parents’ house while still having me with him.” 

Ray thought for a while. “I don’t think there’s a way for you to have _custody_ , exactly. However, we might be able to set a restraining order against your parents. How... how old is your brother?” 

“Sophomore in high school, so 15 or 16.” 

“Can he drive?” 

Frank was quick to answer, “Not to be blunt, but he can’t feel his legs anymore. I don’t think he can or will drive.” 

Ray flinched. “Poor choice of words, sorry. What I meant is, can he go anywhere unsupervised? Like a public pool or a gym?” 

Gerard shook his head. “I have to be with him.” His breathing slowly got steadier. The energy in the room was more calming than expected. 

Ray cleared his throat. “Okay, then. Normal law — so basically just law — states that an adult sibling _can_ obtain custody over a younger sibling, but it gets complicated since it’s not brought up much. There are a lot of requirements, and it all starts with the child in question stating that he, she, or they agrees with the decision to switch custody. Has your brother admitted that he would prefer you as his guardian?” 

Gerard nodded. “I can remember multiple different occasions. I’ve received emails from him regarding this issue, and I’ve kept every single one of them to use in this situation.” 

Ray tapped his pen on his desk. “Great. If you could forward those to me or at least print them out, we could use it as evidence. Oh, and on the topic of evidence, we might need to spend the next few months trying to collect as much as we can.” 

Frank folded his hands. “Is it possible to get a restraining order along with custody? I’m sorry if it seems a bit extra, but Gerard and I are extremely concerned with Mikey’s future health and well-being. He lost his ability to walk because of his parents, and who’s to say that nothing will happen again without separation being forced by the law?” 

Ray chuckled, “I am so glad you asked. That is possible, yes, and you can use some of the same evidence for the child neglect and abuse.” 

Gerard let out a sigh of relief. “Do we need to sign any papers today? I’m not a legal adult yet, but Frank is.” 

Ray shook his head. “Not today, no. When we actually get down to work... that’s a different story. But for now just try to find evidence against the current guardians and get written, videotaped, and spoken evidence that your brother wishes to be under your care. And, I’m not saying you need to do this, but you two should probably get married soon. Even though I, myself, try not to be biased, most cases like this are easier when there’s a second guardian legally bonded to the adult sibling.” 

Frank smiled and exchanged a happy look with Gerard. “We’ve discussed marriage,” he said. 

Gerard chuckled, “More than discussed. We agreed to get married. It wasn’t a proposal, though. It was more like, _we should probably get married_ , followed by, _I agree_.” 

Ray stood up to get the door. “Great,” he sighed, “Have a nice day, you two. Frank, you have my number, right?”

”Yeah,” Frank and Gerard rose out of their seats and stood at the door. They shook hands with Ray one last time before heading out. 

But before they left, they heard Ray’s voice call after them again. “Uh, one more thing,” the lawyer added, “I’ve got your back.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Y’all should listen to Ed Sheeran’s cover of “Baby One More Time.” It’s so dramatic.


End file.
